By the time Hilary Knight slapped one into an empty Canadian net and one of her brothers got up against the glass and started ringing a cowbell, it was definitely all over for the reigning world and Olympic champions from Canada.
On Tuesday at KVIK Hockey Arena in Herning, Denmark, the Americans got the best of Canada in the best rivalry in sports, earning a 5-2 victory to enter the knockout stage of the IIHF women’s world championship as the top seed, and undefeated, to boot.
But despite the lopsided score in this meeting of the top two teams in hockey, the game was mighty heated, and more back-and-forth than the score line indicates. Canada stormed out to a 2-0 lead in the first and the Americans tied things up in the second, leaving yet another game between these two nations to be decided in the final period.
Team USA sure stepped up: They scored three more times to make it five unanswered goals, securing the win in this final game of the preliminary round. Next up, the Americans will face Hungary in the quarter-final, while Canada plays Sweden. Those games are coming up on Thursday.
But first, let’s take a look at some standout moments from what could be (and will be, barring a major upset) a preview of the gold medal showdown that’s set for Sunday, Sept. 4 at 1:30 p.m. ET.
Coyne strikes
This American team features an incredibly potent offence, and they’d scored a tournament-leading 25 goals in their three games prior to this one. There’s so much firepower on this squad.
But, until Tuesday, the team’s plucky captain had yet to light the lamp. Kendall Coyne Schofield got that monkey off her back against Canada, though, and it was a big one. The six-time world champion scored to give the Americans a 4-2 lead and some breathing room with a little more than six minutes to go in the third period.
Just prior to the goal, Coyne Schofield had been knocked down at Canada’s blue line (this game was mighty physical). As her team gained possession and started pressing — Canadian goalie Emerance Maschmeyer made three or four big saves — Coyne Schofield planted her five-foot-two self in front of the net, jumped on a loose puck and fired it past Maschmeyer. Then she pumped both fists while her teammates covered her with hugs.
Coyne Schofield’s goal was her team’s incredible 29th of this tournament. The Americans have scored a whopping 30 goals in four games, and the playoffs are still ahead.
Maschmeyer’s debut and the goaltending situation
Canada started Maschmeyer in net on Tuesday, and it was her first game at these world championships. The 27-year-old from outside Edmonton played well — she made quite a few big saves in the early goings, and was beaten for the first time on a whiffed Megan Keller shot from the point that bounced off one of Maschmeyer’s teammates and in.
Though Maschmeyer played well and deserves to see more time, she’s not considered Canada’s No. 1 between the pipes. That’s been Ann-Renee Desbiens’ job to lose. Desbiens backstopped this team to the 2021 world championship title (Canada’s first in nearly a decade) and the Olympic gold medal earlier this year. If these teams meet again, the expectation is head coach Troy Ryan will opt to start Desbiens.
The Americans have also been splitting time between two goalies: Nicole Hensley, who started on Tuesday, and Maddie Rooney, who has two games under her belt and has given up just one goal. In all, Team USA has given up just three goals all tournament.
The turning point
Canada got out to an early lead thanks to goals from Ella Shelton (more on her goal later) and Sarah Fillier, who now has a tournament-leading four goals, tied with Sweden’s Hanna Olsson and Natalie Mlynkova of Czechia.
Though the Americans responded to tie things up in the second, the turning point came on the prettiest goal of this game, early in the third period.
That’s when American Lacey Eden got a beautiful cross-ice feed from Savannah Harmon, and from the right faceoff dot, snapped a laser beam over Maschmeyer’s right shoulder to give her team the 3-2 lead. And the Americans never looked back.
Earlier this year, Eden was centralized ahead of the Olympics, but she didn’t crack Team USA’s final roster.
Ella Shelton ends America’s perfect kill
The Americans gave up their first power-play goal of this tournament, and it happened thanks to the efforts of Canadian defender Ella Shelton, who was grinning ear-to-ear after she gave her team a 2-0 lead (which quickly evaporated) on Tuesday.
Shelton was parked right on the doorstep of the American net, and she jumped on a loose puck after teammate Victoria Bach got a shot away. It marked Shelton’s first-ever goal against the Americans on the senior international stage.
Shelton, 24, from Ingersoll, Ont., is one of few members of this Canadian team who has only tasted the sweetness of victory. Her lone two appearances on the biggest stages with the senior team were the world championships last year and the Olympics earlier this year. Canada, of course, won both.
Shelton was Canada’s seventh defender in Beijing at the Olympics, and now she’s getting power play time. That marked her second goal of the tournament.
Right (Knight) on the cusp of history
Hilary Knight had her 85th career point at this tournament in the second period on a secondary assist, but on further review, that point was reassigned to a teammate.
But the 33-year-old American put in No. 85 rather emphatically — a slapshot from the high slot, into an empty net. And that was a big empty-netter: Knight is now just two points away from being the all-time leading point-getter in this tournament’s history.
The current holder of that record with 86 points is none other than Canada’s own Hayley Wickenheiser.
Knight’s parents and brother are at the tournament in Denmark — her dad had the biggest smile after his daughter scored Tuesday. They’re no doubt hoping to see Knight make history, and also capture what would be an incredible ninth world championship title.
If that were to happen, you’d probably be hearing a whole lot of cowbell, courtesy of Knight’s family.
